romanoff reports

I used to promise a fortnightly report from the State Capitol. But after too many angry stares from Anglophobes – and a month off the beat – I’ve decided to use the word “periodic” instead.

HAPPIER DAYS

The House began debate this week on the 2006-2007 state budget. House Bill 1375, dubbed the “Long Bill” for reasons that will surprise no one, was introduced last week. The bill will face a preliminary vote in the House on Thursday and a final vote on Friday, before heading to the Senate next week.If you don’t have time to review all two-dozen sections of the Long Bill, click on the narrative. It’s a real (291-) page-turner.

The passage of Referendum C has made our budget discussions far more pleasant than in years past. The recent recession cost Colorado more than 100,000 jobs and roughly $1 billion in state revenues. Without the Economic Recovery Plan, legislators would have been forced to slash another half a billion dollars in higher education, health care, and other core services. Instead, we now find ourselves in the happy position of restoring some of these services – eliminating the wait list for children and adults with developmental disabilities, providing preschool and kindergarten for 2,000 more at-risk students, increasing the value of the College Opportunity Fund.

Fiscal reality should curb our enthusiasm. While revenue projections are up, state services are unlikely to return to their pre-recessionary levels before the end of the decade. For hundreds of thousands of Coloradans, though, help is on the way.

HOME SWEET HOME

A colleague and I spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon discussing senior services with Cathey, 81, and her neighbor Annette, 96. The assisted-living center both women call home will soon find it easier to care for them, thanks to Referendum C.Cathey moved here three years ago, after her husband died. Her room is small; with three chairs and a walker in the way, there’s hardly enough space to navigate the bed and the couch. Family photos brighten the walls.

Cathey and Annette dine with two other women, both in their 90s. Annette calls Cathey the “baby” of the group. (Until last spring, the facility boasted Colorado’s oldest resident; she died at the age of 111.)

Both women praise the center’s staff. Without the support of her caregivers, Cathey said, she would be “out on an ice floe.”

Such providers would fare better under the budget proposal the House is now considering. The state would increase reimbursement rates for assisted-living and skilled-nursing facilities, as well as other home- and community-based services.

YOUR TURN

What do you think of this year’s legislative session? Please join Sen. Dan Grossman and me for a town meeting on Monday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m., at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 700 South Franklin Street (at Exposition, across from Washington Park).The community room can be entered from the Gilpin Street side of the building. This event is free and open to the public.

GIDDY-UP

Major Mike Coffman returned from Iraq this week, just in time to resume his duties as state treasurer and to mount a campaign for secretary of state. (Term limits prevent Coffman from running for reelection as treasurer.)

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon mounted a horse named “Widowmaker” – and made a number of other interesting choices – in kicking off his campaign for secretary of state. To see Sen. Gordon’s announcement, click here. To read more about Mike Coffman’s candidacy, click here.

TRIPLE BYPASS

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